048 The First Intimate Encounter

"How did you end up thinking about ghost stories?" Lin Xia asked, half amused and half exasperated.

Xie Xitong rolled her eyes. "Just think about it—a cold winter’s night, everyone gathered around the stove. Isn’t that the perfect time to tell ghost stories? Who’d have guessed he’d use that moment to lecture his descendants instead?"

"Nighttime Conversations by the Hearth"—just as its name suggests, it bids farewell to the noisy bustle of the day, and as one sits by the fireside, the world seems to fall into a rare, gentle stillness. In such a warm and peaceful atmosphere, all the frustrations and vexations stirred up by the dust of day seem to quietly rise and transform into insights about life, about existence itself.

A good book that should be savored slowly had, after Xie Xitong’s explanation, somehow gained an odd new appeal in Lin Xia’s mind. She couldn’t help but think that perhaps she, too, harbored a bit of mischief at her core. With a helpless shake of her head, she steered the topic elsewhere. "It’s getting late. Why don’t you stay and have lunch at my place?"

As she tucked the book into her backpack, Xie Xitong shook her head. "I can’t. I haven’t been home in over ten days. I came straight from my grandpa’s house to school this morning. If I don’t go back now, my mom’s going to have another long talk with me."

"Don’t worry. If it comes up, I’ll explain it to your mom with you. She’ll understand," Lin Xia replied.

Xie Xitong shook her head again. "Forget it, there’s plenty of time ahead. It’s not like I won’t have other chances to freeload a meal from you."

Lin Xia nodded. "True enough."

"Alright, I’m off, then."

The two of them left the study. Xie Xitong changed her shoes and called toward the kitchen, "Auntie, I’m heading out!"

Lin Xia’s mother hurried out. "At least stay for lunch! The food’s all ready."

"Maybe next time, Auntie. I’ll be sure not to miss your cooking, and I hope you won’t get tired of having me over."

"Don’t be silly—you’re always welcome," Lin Xia’s mother said, then turned to her daughter. "Go see Tongtong out."

Lin Xia had already changed her shoes and nodded in assent.

"Goodbye, Auntie!"

"Goodbye, dear!"

After seeing Xie Xitong off and closing the door, Lin Xia found her mother setting dishes on the table. Lin Xia washed her hands and helped bring over the rest of the food.

Seeing her mother only set out two bowls and pairs of chopsticks, Lin Xia asked, "Where are Dad and Lin Hui? I haven’t seen them."

"Your father’s gone to see your brother’s teacher. The school’s already been selected, so now the homeroom teacher needs to keep an extra eye on your brother," her mother said, handing Lin Xia a bowl of rice. "It’s the second semester of sixth grade—middle school’s just ahead. With him like this, how could I not worry? So I had your father take Lin Hui to the teacher’s home for New Year’s greetings, ask the teacher to put in a bit more effort and discipline him well."

Lin Xia nodded. Teachers are only human, after all—they need to eat, too. Giving a small gift helps build rapport and benefits her own child, and if it means the teacher gives a little extra attention for a small reward, so be it.

After lunch, Lin Xia read in her room for a while. When the appointed time with Xie Xitong drew near, she packed her bag and left the house.

In these economically driven times, the landscaping in this small county town was far from ideal. That was why the apartment complex Lin Xia had chosen stood out for its greenery. Both sides of the road were lined with camphor trees, lush and verdant, as if spring had already arrived. Hidden behind the green leaves were tangled, withered branches.

Bored, Lin Xia idly took in the view of the gardens, turning her head absentmindedly—then suddenly froze.

On the path behind the withered branches, Xie Xitong appeared, and beside her stood a tall, slender figure.

His hair was deep as ink, his expression calm and distant.

In an instant, the world’s scenery faded into a distant, blurred backdrop. The only thing that remained clear in Lin Xia’s vision was that serene face.

He walked toward her, his expression unreadable, as if he’d stepped through time and stilled the world.

On such a cold day, Lin Xia felt her palms start to sweat.

"Xia Xia, you’re so early!" Xie Xitong spotted her and trotted over, cheeks rosy, eyes crinkling into crescent moons, her head tilted in a playful grin.

"No, I only just got here," Lin Xia replied, masking her whirling thoughts with an easy, untroubled smile.

As they spoke, Chen Zimo had already walked over.

"Let me introduce you—this is my brother, Chen Zimo," Xie Xitong announced with the pride of someone presenting a treasure. "And this is my classmate, Lin Xia."

How should she address him?

Zimo?

No, too intimate.

Brother Zimo?

Ugh, she’d make herself cringe before she even managed to say it. Far too affected.

While these thoughts tumbled through her mind, Lin Xia smiled. "You forgot—I told you before, I’ve met your brother."

"Oh, right!"

Lin Xia turned to Chen Zimo and smiled. "Brother Chen, is it alright if I call you that?"

"Haha, that sounds like you’re making my brother out to be an old man," Xie Xitong chimed in, ever eager to stir the pot. "But then again, he is a whole year older than me—practically ancient!"

At her antics, a flicker of fondness flashed in Chen Zimo’s otherwise tranquil eyes. He ruffled her hair. "Mind your manners."

Then, with a slight nod to Lin Xia, he acknowledged her greeting.

"Hey! My hair can’t be messed up, even if I lose my head," Xie Xitong protested, hastily freeing herself from his hand and smoothing her hair with care.

"It’s getting late—we should get going," Lin Xia said, glancing at her watch to remind them.

"Yes, let’s go."

Though his voice was level and unremarkable, it struck Lin Xia like a thunderclap.

For a brief moment, a white light flashed through her mind, followed by a cascade of emptiness that surrounded her with no room for resistance.

When she finally came to, only one line echoed endlessly in her mind:

"If all the crows in the world were slain, I would lie with you until dawn."

Lin Xia had no idea how she made it to school. When she fully regained her senses, the politics teacher was at the podium, spittle flying, and she was sitting there with a politics textbook in her hands.

She looked down and realized the book was upside down.

Flushing, she glanced at her deskmate to the left, only to see that he had his head buried over his test paper, paying her no attention at all.

At that moment, Lin Xia had neither the heart to listen to the lesson nor to remind her deskmate about sharing the test. She simply picked up her pen and began to doodle on her scratch paper.

Just like in Qin Shaoyou’s poem: "A curtain of dreams under the moon at night, ten miles of spring breeze and tender feelings."

Or as the song goes: "I have a curtain of secret dreams; I wonder with whom I can share them? So many secrets within, but no one to understand!"

Even after all this time, Lin Xia’s heart had not settled. She closed her eyes, listening to the wild thumping in her chest, biting her lower lip.

Twice reborn, and yet this was the first time she had spoken with him.

"Yes, let’s go." Lin Xia replayed every scene in her mind, dismayed to realize she remembered every detail—even the way the sunlight glinted off his hair was crystal clear.

This moment, she thought, she would never forget for the rest of her life.